3D Shape Menu Settings

Basics Tab

Depth field

Displays the level of depth (thus extruding the selection, making it three dimensional). Editable.

Depth Mode box

Select where the extruded geometry is positioned along the Z axis. Select Custom to set the distance from front to back manually.

Depth Centre field

Displays the position of the extruded geometry along the Z axis, as a percentage. Editable if Custom is selected in the Depth Mode box.

GMask Transparency box

Select how the transparency of an attached GMask is rendered.

Select:	To:
For 3D Shape Only	Render the GMask as if it were linked to the 3D Shape object only. In this case, the GMask blend mode is automatically set to 2 Intersect 1 (Inside) for optimal blending.
Render	Render the GMask globally in the Action scene. In this case, the GMask blend mode is automatically set to Add for optimal blending.
Do Not Render	Not render the GMask in the scene. In this case, certain GMask menu settings are hidden, such as Transparency, Intensity, Smoothing and Blending.

Spline Combination box

Select how multiple GMask splines attached to the 3D Shape object are combined.

Option:	Combination Pattern:
Intersection	Splines with the Hole button selected (in the GMask menu) are always rendered as a hole; other splines are rendered according to their relative position. Where two or more splines overlap, these rules apply: An even number of overlaps are rendered as a hole; whereas an odd number are rendered as filled.
Union	Splines with the Hole button selected (in the GMask menu) are always rendered as a hole; other splines are rendered filled, except for their intersection with holes.
Priority	Splines are rendered according to their status (hole or filled, depending on the state of the Hole button), and the GMask Priority list determines the proper combination pattern.

Multi Material button

Enable to create an Object Group node for each of the front, back, and extrude of the 3D object. You can then attach a different texture map to apply to the different surfaces.

Media Projection button

Enable to automatically add a Diffuse (and Axis) node to the 3D Shape node with its mapping type set to Projection.

Shape Boundary box

Select how an attached GMask's softness is extruded. Available when an attached GMask is closed, and has an inner or outer softness.

Select:	To extrude:
Only Spline	Just the original curve.
Only Softness	Just the geometry between the softness.
Spline And Softness	Everything inside the outer softness. Set automatically when a softness is added.

Use Inner Softness button

Enable to include the inner softness when using the Spline And Softness option in the Shape Boundary box. Disable if tessellation issues occur when using inner and outer softnesses.

Profile Tab

Profile Type box

Select which profile curve to display. Different settings may appear depending on the type selected.

Adaptive button

Enable to extrude based on an adaptive subdivision, adding smaller segments where there is a higher curvature. When disabled, the depth is divided into Max Samples slices of exactly the same size.

Tolerance field

Displays the point at which the extrusion is subdivided. Editable.

Samples field

Displays the maximum number of extrusion samples applied to the non-flat curves. Editable.

Centre X field

Displays the centre along the X axis that the scale and rotation curves use. You can also adjust the centre settings in the image window by dragging the crosshair. Editable.

Centre Y field

Displays the centre along the Y axis that the scale and rotation curves use. You can also adjust the centre settings in the image window by dragging the crosshair. Editable.

Parametric Angle field

Displays the slope of the beveling. Editable.

Parametric Position field

Displays the relative position of the start of the beveling. Editable.

Parametric Curvature field

Displays the roundness or curvature of the beveling. Editable.

Curvature Type box

Select the type of curvature to apply to the parametric curve.

Profile Curve

Displays the selected profile curve (bevel, scale, or rotation). Move and add points to the curve, as well as adjust the tangent handles to produce different effects with the extruded geometry. If you select a Parametric profile type, a separate read-only curve is displayed.

Parametric Bevel Curve

Read-only display of the parametric profile curve, based on the profile settings.

Home button

Resets the selected curve viewer to show the whole curve.

Undo button

Undoes the last operation for the selected curve viewer.

Reset button

Resets the selected curve viewer to the default curve.

Keyframe Option box

Select an option for working with keyframes in the profile curve.

Interpolation Status field

Displays the interpolation type for the selected area of the curve. Non-editable.

Interpolation Type box

Select an interpolation type to define the shape of the profile curve between keyframes.

Note: The Profile curve for 3D Shape functions the same as that of 3D Text. For more information, see Using the Profile Curve With 3D Text.

Geometry and UV Map Tabs

The settings in the Geometry and UV Map tabs are the same as for the Geom node.